Ducts with information modules and methods of use and manufacture thereof

ABSTRACT

The present inventive concept includes a duct system and method for using same to map and locate ducts. A preferred embodiment of the duct system includes a duct, a plurality of electronic information modules and an oversheath at least partially covering the plurality of information modules and fixing the information modules to the duct. The plurality of information modules are configured to emit a positional signal to enable location of the information modules and associated duct(s) and/or mapping of the duct system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/146,874 fled Jan. 3, 2014, which claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/750,103 titled Information Module HousingApparatus and Method, and filed Jan. 8, 2013, the contents of which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This present inventive concept relates generally to the field of conduitor duct systems for use in residential, commercial, industrial and otherapplications and, in particular, to a duct system including electronicinformation modules and methods for improved information gathering andmapping.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Ducts are essential to a wide variety of structures includingresidential, commercial, industrial, and governmental structures. Forexample, they may carry water, house fiber optic cables or othercommunications or power lines, or participate in critical pneumaticsystems aboard vehicles. Ducts often experience high volumes ofthroughput, frequent changes in positioning, connectivity or conductedmaterials, or other conditions or changes that require them to belocatable for maintenance and other activities to be performed.

Existing duct systems are not designed so that individual duct lines canbe located with ease and accuracy, particularly in applications wherethe lines are obscured from sight by obstructions such as soil in whichsuch lines are buried. As such, significant expenses may be incurred inattempts to locate ducts, or in correcting work done based on erroneousinformation provided by or about existing duct systems. One existingmethod of locating a duct requires burying or otherwise placing a“tracer” or similar wire alongside the duct, for example duringconstruction. Even though in certain applications the tracer wire may beattached to the duct before the duct is placed, there are severalsources of potential error in using this method. These include thepossibility that the positioning of the tracer wire on the duct will bedisturbed during placement, or that the means for locating the tracerwire may hit on other metal objects and thus provide false positives forthe location of the duct.

Further, in many existing systems, there remains the possibility thatthe tracer wire or similar device will become disassociated from theduct or otherwise damaged during or after the construction process, thuspreventing accurate location of the duct. Such systems often have noeconomical way to provide redundancy in functionality, and failure of atracer wire at any given location may cause failure of the entirelocation mechanism. Finally, there is no existing method for identifyingindividual, obscured duct sections or for obtaining similar specificinformation regarding the duct system's location and state.

The present inventive concept provides an improved duct system and amethod for using same for mapping and location purposes.

SUMMARY

The following brief description is provided to indicate the nature ofthe subject matter disclosed herein. While certain aspects of thepresent inventive concept are described below, the summary is notintended to limit the scope of the present inventive concept.Embodiments of the present inventive concept provide an electronicmodule housing apparatus and method for attachment to a duct.

The present inventive concept provides, in its simplest form, a ductsystem including a duct, at least one information module and anoversheath at least partially covering the information module and fixingthe information module to the duct. The information module emits atleast a positional signal permitting location of the information modulebased on the information in the positional signal alone or incombination with other information. The information module may also emita duct properties signal regarding the condition of the duct and/or itscontents. The duct system may be designed such that each informationmodule is within range of more than two other information modules, thusproviding redundancy in systems where signals are exchanged betweeninformation modules in a “network”, and allowing for continued routingof signal information along such a network of information modules evenwhere one information module is malfunctioning or inoperable. Such anetwork may simply bypass the malfunctioning or inoperable informationmodule and pass signal information over it to the next functioningmodule.

A method of using the duct system for mapping and/or location efforts isalso disclosed herein. The steps of the method include providing atleast one information module fixed to a duct that is configured to emita positional signal, receiving, via a receiver, the positional signalfrom the information module, and plotting the positional signal from theinformation module on at least two axes.

The information module may further be configured to emit a ductproperties signal relating to at least one of i) the condition of theduct, and ii) the contents of the duct, and the method may furtherinclude the step of receiving, via the receiver, the duct propertiessignal. The duct properties signal information may be used separately orfollowing correlation with the positional signal information. Theinformation contained in signals may ultimately pass from theinformation module to a user or computer system configured to processand/or plot such information.

Additional aspects, advantages, and utilities of the present inventionwill be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part,will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present inventive concept are described in detailbelow with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged front cross sectional perspective of theembodiment of FIG. 2 illustrating an information module attached to aduct using an oversheath.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a duct system according to an embodiment of thepresent inventive concept including multiple information modules securedalong the length of a duct by an oversheath.

The drawing figures do not limit the present inventive concept to thespecific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention references theaccompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which theinvention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describeaspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled inthe art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized andchanges can be made without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is definedonly by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents towhich such claims are entitled.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or“embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to areincluded in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separatereferences to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” inthis description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and arealso not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. Forexample, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment mayalso be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included.Thus, the present technology can include a variety of combinationsand/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

Turning to FIG. 1, a single electronic information module 10 isillustrated from a front cross sectional perspective at line 1 of theembodiment of FIG. 2. The information module 10 is fixed to an exteriorsurface of a duct 12 using an oversheath 14. The information module 10abuts the exterior surface of the duct 12 but is not embedded in theduct 12, thus preserving the structural integrity of the duct 12. Themethods of installing information modules onto a duct or series of ductsof the present inventive concept may vary. In the preferred installationmethod, information modules are attached to the exterior of the duct atdesired increments along its length using an adhesive or heat treatment.This assembly is processed through a die that applies an oversheatharound the duct and information module assembly.

Though the material and thickness used for an oversheath may vary, theoversheath is preferably composed primarily of plastic such as apolyethylene plastic and is anywhere between 0.5-0.7″ in thickness. Suchthickness may be decreased for improved signal strength or smallereffective bulk of the duct, or increased to improve durability, e.g., inrough or rockier terrains. The oversheath may be heated prior toapplication to the information module and duct assembly to increaseelasticity. Once applied to the assembly, the oversheath may be allowedto cool and constrict, thereby securing the information modules againstthe exterior of the duct.

Returning to FIG. 1, the information module 10 and duct 12 aresurrounded by an oversheath 14 that wraps around a substantial portionof the exterior of the duct 12. On a portion of the duct's 12 surfacethat faces the information module 10, the oversheath 14 raises off fromthe exterior of the duct 12 to wrap around the exterior of theinformation module 10 and fix the information module 10 to the duct 12.In embodiments where the oversheath does not settle flush against theexterior of the duct and information module at the point where theyinterface, like in FIG. 1, pockets may form and provide additionalbenefits in the system, for example by providing space through which airor other fluids may flow to enhance cooling of the information modules.In other embodiments, the oversheath may contact an even greaterproportion of the exterior of the duct, for example in embodiments wherethe oversheath is composed at least partially of heated plastic which isallowed to settle along the contours of the information module duringconstruction of the apparatus, and which thereafter cools to secure theinformation module against the duct.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a duct system of an embodiment of the presentinventive concept is shown from a side perspective. The system includesmultiple information modules 10 spaced linearly along the length of aduct 12. The upper and lower extremities of the duct 12 are illustratedusing broken lines in FIG. 2. An oversheath 14 wraps around theexteriors of the information modules 10 and duct 12, and secures theinformation modules 10 to the exterior of the duct 12. Depending on theconditions during installation in various embodiments, including theincremental spacing of the information modules along the duct, thethickness of the information modules, and other factors, this method ofinstalling the information module housing apparatus onto a duct willproduce troughs between the information modules, such as the troughs 16illustrated in FIG. 2. The troughs 16 may be utilized in handling theduct 12 during installation, and may contribute to the electromagneticcharacteristics of the assembled duct system, such as thosecharacteristics that are detected as part of the transmission of signalsfrom the information module to a receiver. Further, though theembodiment of FIG. 2 is illustrated with information modules 10 arrangedlinearly along the exterior of the duct 12, it is foreseen that theinformation modules 10 may be alternatively placed along the outersurface of the duct 12, for example in a non-patterned fashion atdifferent points on the circumference of the duct, without departingfrom the spirit of the present inventive concept.

The information modules may transmit or emit information in signals suchas radio transmissions, electronic currents through wires, or throughother known means, and may do so actively on an intermittent orcontinuous basis or passively, for example in response to interrogationby a receiver. A “receiver” is a means for collecting signals from theinformation modules of the system of the present inventive concept, andmay be integrated within one or more information modules or may beseparate devices configured for receipt of the signals. A signal “range”refers to the maximum effective distance between a receiver and aninformation module within which the receiver is capable of receiving asignal from the information module, and depends on a number of factorssuch as signal strength, sophistication of the receiver, and number andtype of interceding obstructions. The receiver may transmit signalsobtained from the information modules to a user or to a separate pieceof equipment, and may optionally perform further processing on thesignals prior to any such transmission.

An “information module” is electronic and emits a positional signal thatincludes at least one of information i) that enables location of theinformation module with respect to another object, e.g., the receiver,on at least two axes, ii) regarding the coordinates of the informationmodule on at least two axes, and iii) associated with the particularduct section to which the information module is fixed. Any or all of theforegoing items of information may be used for locating and/or mapping aduct system. In a preferred embodiment, a handheld receiver may bepassed within the range of signal detection for the information modulesof the duct system and will collect at least one of the foregoing typesof information. Depending on the scope of the location or mappingneeded, a user may then use the positional signals collected through thereceiver to locate a particular duct section, or map an entire ductsystem. In certain embodiments, this may require processing thepositional signals with other information, for example regardingrelative position of another object, such as the receiver itself.

A receiver may also be integrated into one or more of the informationmodules, permitting positional signals to be exchanged between theinformation modules themselves in a network, for example to enable thecalculation of relative positions amongst the information modules of theduct system. This embodiment may further provide for collection ofpositional signal information from the entire duct system by a receiverthat is only within the positional signal range of one informationmodule, for example because that information module has collected thepositional signal information from the other information modules of theduct system that are within the network. Thus, in certain embodiments itmay be preferable for any one information module to be within thepositional signal range of at least four other information modules,e.g., with two on either side, to enable continued transmission ofpositional signals along the information module network even where oneinformation module becomes inoperable and requires replacement ormaintenance and is bypassed by the network.

In more sophisticated embodiments of the system, the information modulesmay further be configured to emit duct properties signals includinginformation regarding at least one of: i) the condition of the duct, andii) the contents of the duct. The information module may be configuredwith its own sensor(s) to detect such duct properties information or maysimply receive such information from independent sensor apparatus(es).Information regarding the condition of the duct may relate to theintegrity of the duct, the history of information exchange withreceivers of the duct system, the features of the duct including valvesor circuitry in proximity thereto, or other properties andcharacteristics. Information regarding the contents of the duct mayinclude volumetric flow rate, pressure, electrical properties orperformance information, or other properties or characteristics.

The duct system of the present inventive concept thus provides means forcollecting information regarding the position of its constituent ductand/or duct sections and, optionally, regarding the condition and/oroperation of the duct sections and their contents. This information canbe mapped for ease of location and maintenance.

Having now described the features, discoveries and principles of thegeneral inventive concept, the manner in which the general inventiveconcept is constructed and used, the characteristics of theconstruction, and advantageous, new and useful results obtained; the newand useful structures, devices, tools, elements, arrangements, parts andcombinations, are set forth in the appended claims.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the general inventiveconcept herein described, and all statements of the scope of the generalinventive concept which, as a matter of language, might be said to falltherebetween.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A duct system comprising: a duct; aplurality of information modules, wherein each of the informationmodules is configured to emit a positional signal; and an oversheathcovering the information modules and the duct such that an open space isdefined via the duct, the information modules, and the oversheath, whilefixing each of the information modules to the duct, wherein the openspace contains a fluid which is able to cool the information modules asthe fluid flows through the open space.
 2. The duct system of claim 1,wherein at least one of the information modules is configured to emit aduct properties signal relating to at least one of i) a condition of theduct, or ii) a content of the duct.
 3. The duct system of claim 1,wherein the information modules include five information modulesarranged in a network, and a first information module of the fiveinformation modules is within a positional signal range of remaining ofthe five information modules.
 4. The duct system of claim 3, wherein thefive information modules are configured to bypass a malfunctioninginformation module to pass signal information.
 5. A method of mapping aduct system, the method comprising: providing at least two informationmodules each fixed to a duct, wherein at least one of the at least twoinformation modules is configured to emit a positional signal, whereinthe at least two information modules and the duct are covered by anoversheath such that the at least two information modules are interposedbetween the duct and the oversheath and such that an open space isdefined via the duct, the oversheath, and the at least two informationmodules, wherein the open space contains a fluid which is able to coolthe at least two information modules as the fluid flows through the openspace; receiving the positional signal from the at least one of the atleast two information modules; and plotting the positional signal on atleast two axes.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one ofthe at least two information modules is configured to emit a ductproperties signal relating to at least one of i) a condition of theduct, or ii) a content of the duct, and further comprising receiving,via a receiver, the duct properties signal.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein the at least one of the at least two information modules isconfigured to include a receiver, and wherein the receiving thepositional signal is performed by the receiver.
 8. The method of claim6, further comprising associating the duct properties signal with thepositional signal.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one ofthe at least two information modules is fixed to the duct using theoversheath.
 10. A duct system comprising: a duct; a plurality ofinformation modules arranged in a network, wherein each of theinformation modules is configured to emit a positional signal; and anoversheath covering the information modules and the duct such that anopen space is defined via the duct, the information modules, and theoversheath, while fixing each of the information modules to the duct,wherein at least one of the information modules is within a positionalsignal range of another of the information modules in the network,wherein the open space contains a fluid which is able to cool theinformation modules as the fluid flows through the open space.
 11. Adevice comprising: a duct; a plurality of information modules; and anoversheath covering the duct and the information modules such that eachof the information modules is positioned between the duct and theoversheath and such that the duct, the information modules, and theoversheath define an open space, wherein the open space contains a fluidwhich is able to cool the information modules as the fluid flows throughthe open space.
 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the duct includes alongitudinal axis, wherein the information modules are positioned alongthe longitudinal axis such that the oversheath includes a trough betweenthe information modules.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein theinformation modules are rectilinearly positioned along the longitudinalaxis.
 14. The device of claim 11, wherein the oversheath is buried in asoil.
 15. The device of claim 11, where at least one of the informationmodules is configured for wireless communication.
 16. The device ofclaim 11, wherein two of the information modules are configured tocommunicate with each other.
 17. The device of claim 16, wherein the twoinformation modules are consecutive.
 18. The device of claim 16, whereinthe two information modules are non-consecutive.
 19. The device of claim11, wherein the open space is a first open space, wherein the fluid is afirst fluid, wherein the duct, the information modules, and theoversheath define a second open space, wherein the second open spacecontains a second fluid which is able to cool the information modules asthe second fluid flows through the second open space, wherein the firstopen space opposes the second open space.
 20. The device of claim 11,wherein the duct is a single duct.